The
Official Home of the Clan McLea (The ancient historical name of the Livingstones)

The island of Lismore is situated in the district of Lorne and the sheriffdom
of Argyle. It lies in the Linn of Lorne opposite Oban, trending along
towards Appin. Including the islet of Musdal, which is separated from
the main island by a shallow strait-a few feet deep, and a few yards
wide at low water - Lismore is ten and one -tenth miles in length and
averages about one mile in breadth.

The geological formation of Lismore is limestone with the exception
of two beds of whin and several dykes of trap.

The whin is at Cilleandrais and Portcharrain, two contiguous farms,
and the traps cross the island at nearly equal intervals along its length.
These traps merge under the sea at Lismore and again emerge on the two
opposite coasts.

Probably, however, the most interesting and instructive geological feature
of Lismore is the ancient sea-margin by which it is surrounded. This
margin is of irregular width, from one to a hundred yards, and in one,
place is one thousand yards wide. It is of uniform level throughout though
rough and rocky on the surface. A sea escarpment rises fifty feet above
this terrace and is considerably honeycombed - in some places deeply
indented - by the action of the sea. Some of the deeper indentations
penetrate the rock to unknown distances forming deep caves, one of which
is alleged to pierce the island right through. This, however, can only
be conjecture.

A story is told of a piper and his dog having entered this cave - Uamb-Chraidh-at
Bailegrunail, intending to come out at Uamh-an-duine, which is at Creaganaich.
It is alleged that the piper was heard playing right across the island,
the music ascending through earth-holes - talamh-tuill - on the way the
burden of his lament being:-

I drowning and howling
Amongst the horrid pools
The Pain Cave in Bailegrunail
The Man Cave in Creaganaich.

The dog came out at Uamb-an-Duine hairless and sightless, but the playing
ceased and the piper never emerged. The conclusion is that the cave contained
impassable pools, in one of which the piper was drowned.

Similar stories are told of many other places from Ireland to
India and from Britain to Japan, and probably with as much foundation
in
fact.

The present sea-escarpment rises six feet or so above sea- level. Its
face is fairly vertical and singularly honeycombed. Some of the old
sea margin contains half-fossilised masses of shells caked together
like
the conglomerate rock of the coast of Lorne-some of the shells simply
cemented together by the edges in the most delicate and fantastic
manner like Indian filigree. In some places the face of the escarpment
is
still studded with limpets, whelks, both 'black and white, and mussels
like
the rocks of the shore below, against which the, sea now beats. And
irresponsively cold the heart and irredeemably cold the imagination
that would not be
moved at the sight of the lowly crustaceans thus still clinging in
death after unknown ages to their sapless mother rock, like a dead
child clinging
to its dead mother's breast.

The name Lismore is variously interpreted lios, a fort, and mor, great-great
fort; lios, a garden-the great garden; and slios, a plain-the great plain.

The name may mean 'the great fort' from the number of forts in the place,
the remains of which are still more or less visible. It may mean 'the
great garden' from the fertility of the soil, the island having been
the garden and granary of the great Lords of the, Isles when these semi-royal
nobles held sway over the whole Highlands and Islands of Scotland and
possessed a house and the half of Alban-I tigh Is leth Albain.' Or, it
may mean 'the great plain' from its low-lying position in the midst of
the sea surrounded by mountains.

Sliosmore is not a form of the name now known to the people of the place,
though curiously enough it is the form used by the people of the Outer
Isles when speaking of this island. And this form receives countenance
from the disputation alleged to have occurred between Saint Columba and
Saint Moluag.

It is said that Columba and Moluag were brothers. Each wished to possess
Lismore and to make it the centre of his missionary labours, for there
was much emulation among the saints of old-striving who should win most
souls to Christ.

The brothers arranged to run a race and that the first to land should
possess the island. They left together, each saint with his crew of clerics
singing the Psalms of David- while they rowed their coracles as the Highland
boatmen still sing their iorraim-boat-songs.

When approaching the island, the brethren still straining at their oars
and the saints chanting their psalms, Moluag lifted his axe and cut of
the little finger of his left hand, and throwing it ashore exclaimed:
'My witness be to God and man, my flesh and blood are on the land, Columba
beloved'- 'M' fhianuis air Dia agus daoine m' fhuil is m' fheoil air
tir, a Chaluim chaoimh.' Upon seeing the devotion of his brother Columba
turned aside the bow of his boat and did not land. It is alleged that
he tried to depreciate the island as represented in the following dialogue:-

Columba. The great plain be the name of the island.
Moluag. If great the plain, great be the fruit.
Columba. Hollow-full, knoll-full, rock-full.
Moluag. Fruit-full, sweet-full, shrub-full.
Columba. Be the edges of its rocks above.
Moluag. Be their venom under.
Columba. Green alder be its fuel.
Moluag. May it burn like the candle.

Embracing and blessing his brother and bidding him prosperity through
time and eternity Columba proceeded, northwards, preaching the gospel
and building churches, till he reached the palace of Brude, King of
the Picts, near Inverness. When Brude beard that Columba was approaching,
he was sore afraid, and barred his iron gates against him, and appealed
to his gods for protection. But Columba prayed to his God against the
gods of Brude, and immediately the iron bars fell down, and the iron
gates of Brude opened wide, and Columba walked in, and so the King
was
converted to the Christian faith.

During the Norse occupation the western isles of Scotland, together
with the Orkney and Shetland Isles on the north and the Isle of Man on
the south, were ruled ecclesiastically from Norway.

This long disarticulated chain of islands was divided into two great
groups, the line of demarcation being drawn across the small island of
Carnaburg behind the island of Mull. The group of islands to the north
of this line was called the Nordreys-the Northern Isles-and the group
to the south the Sudreys-the Southern Isles.

An English diocese still retains the name of the southern group, 'Sodor
and Man'-the Southern Isles and Man. The title is singularly inapplicable
now, as all the Southern Isles are in Scotland, and the Isle of Man was
only annexed to the British Crown in the year 1825. Upon the downfall
of the Norsemen, Argyll and the Western Isles were joined into a bishopric
entitled the 'See of Argyll and the Isles.' In the year 1200, John, Bishop
of Dunkeld, sent his chaplain Harold to Innocent iii., asking that Argyll
and the Isles might be disjoined from Dunkeld, and erected into a separate
see with Harold as bishop thereof. The Pope admired the conscientiousness
of the bishop, quoting the proverb, 'Rara avis in terra.'

The Pope appointed and consecrated Harold bishop of the new diocese
accordingly. From its insularity, security, sanctity, and perhaps fertility,
the island of Lismore was selected as the seat of the new bishop. A cathedral
was built, the choir of which is now the parish church. The palace was
'built at Achanduin. The ruins of the palace situated on a high knoll
are picturesque features in the picturesque landscape. Closely adjoining
is the island of Bearnarey, where Columba was wont to preach under a
large yew tree. The tree stood on the edge of the island, half of it
over the land and half over the sea, and was capable of sheltering a
thousand people beneath its widely spreading branches.

The people of Mull and Morven came in their skin coracles, wherein they
sat out the service, while the people of Lismore came on foot and sat,
on the ground, the island being accessible by foot at half-tide. From
the circumstance of Colum-cille preaching there, the island of Bearnarey
was looked upon as holy ground, and the tree under which he preached
as sacred. An old poem speaks of.-

The turret dun of Staffnage
Upon the north side of Lorne
And Bearnarey of the noble yew
Upon the north side of Lismore.

The remains of a small oratory and an oblation cairn are close by where
the yew tree stood.

Colum-cille prophesied that the pride and greed of man would yet place
beneath his feet the noble tree under which he and they found shade and
shelter while discoursing on the lowly humanity of Christ, and that the
guiltiness of the act would only he expiated by water and blood and three
fires.

About the middle of the nineteenth century the proprietor of the island
removed the tree to make a staircase in his house at Ardmhuenis, Benderloch.
When felling the tree it came down upon a man crushing him to death and
dyeing the rocks red with his blood.

When the boats left, towing the tree behind them, the day was calm and
bright and the sea as smooth as a mirror, but when they approached Rudh-na-Fionnart
near their destination, a sudden storm burst upon them, crushing the
boat against the tree, whereby more lives were lost'

The house in which the tree was used took fire, and everything was destroyed
except the staircase. The house was rebuilt and the magnificent stair
again used, and again the house was destroyed by fire - all save the
staircase.

Some say that this Castle of Lochnell, so singularly sheltered and beautifully
situated, has been burnt and re- built three times, others say twice.

A bishop is invested with a pastoral staff emblematic of his office
as shepherd of the flock. In Latin this star is called baculum, in Gaelic'
bachull.'

On the erection of the see of Argyll and the Isles a man was appointed
to the office of custodian of the baculum of the bishop. The office was
honourable and important, and a man of standing in the district was selected
for the appointment. The appointment was conferred upon Livingstone,
some say of Lismore, others of Benderloch, adjoining. The Gaelic form
of Livingstone is Mac-an-Leigh, son of the physician. Probably it originated
from the Beatons, who for many centuries were celebrated all over Scotland,
and are still spoken of in Highland tradition. The Beatons are said to
be descended from Betan who came over with Colum-cille, and to have been
physicians of the Columban Church in Scotland during many ages. There
were three celebrated - families of them - one in Mull, one in Islay,
and one in Skye. The parent house was in Mull, and their tombstones,
which are at Iona and Killfinichen, are among the finest sculptured stones
in Scotland. The Beatons were family physicians to the Stuart kings,
as may be seen from the payments made to them in the Exchequer Rolls.
The name assumes various forms as Bethune, Beaton, and Paton.

As indicating the tenacity of heredity, I may mention that I knew a
descendant of one of these Beatons in the island of South Uist. He came
from Skye when a young man, as a shepherd. He died in great poverty,
an old man of eighty-eight in South Uist some fifteen years ago, in the
most miserable hut I ever saw. The man was wholly unlettered, but he
knew the Gaelic name of every plant, its medicinal properties, its flowering
season, and all its various characteristics.

In those early times payments were made in kind. Those to the custodian
of the staff of the Bishop of Lismore were made in lands. A small estate
was given him near the cathedral and he was created a baron.

The cathedral church of Lismore is dedicated to Saint Moluag. The pastoral
staff of the bishop was called the staff of Moluag - Bachull Moluag and
various other names, and many people believe that it belonged to Moluag,
and that the baron of Bachuill was keeper of it ages before the disjoining
of Lismore from Dunkeld.

Besides being the keeper of the crozier, the Baron was almoner of the
cathedral, dispensing the bounty of the bishop to the poor of the parish.
In this capacity he was called 'An Deor'-the almoner. The site of the
old dwelling of the barons is still called 'Tarach Taigh an Deor' - the
site of the house of the almoner, and the ground upon which it stood
'Bruthach Taigh an Deor,'-the slope of the house of the almoner.

The 'Baron of Bachuill,' as Livingstone is still called, was also chancellor
of the cathedral, and as such had to visit the landowners throughout
the diocese to receive the tithes and all other dues accruing to the
church. On these occasions the Baron carried the crozier of the bishop,
at sight of which all men were bound to pay him homage.

The Bachull of Moluag was treated with veneration akin to awe by the
people. Like the staff of St. Fillan of Glendochart, and the staff of
St. Patrick of Armagh, the famous Bachull Isu, the staff of Moluag possessed,
in the simple faith of the times, miraculous powers. It ensured safety
at sea, truth on land, secured man from plague, woman from death, and
cattle from murrain. And like the bell of St. Fillan, if carried away
or left behind, it came home again of its own accord. Upon one occasion
the keeper of the staff inadvertently left it behind him on the mainland,
and only remembered his mistake when he landed in the island of Lismore.
The Baron was considering how to recross the strait in the dark stormy
night to recover his staff. Just then he heard something whizzing in
the air behind him and passing his ear and falling before him in the
rolag-nihara, rolled seaweed. The Baron bent down to see what it was,
and to his great joy and relief it was his Bachull Moluag. Many similar
stories are still current of this interesting relic - stories that show
the veneration of the people and of the times.

Locally the crozier is called Caman na Bachuill, the crook of Bachull;
Bachull Moluag, the Bachull of Moluag; Am Bachull Buidhe, the yellow
bachull; Am Bachull Mor, the big Bachull; Am Bata Buidhe, the yellow
stag. These last two names are in allusion to the metal with which the
staff was covered.

Baron Livingstone, as the present custodian is called, possesses a small
freehold estate in virtue of being the keeper of the staff of Moluag.
The estate is called Bachuill, from the crozier being kept there. The
crozier itself is frequently called after the estate, even to calling
it Bachull na Bachuill, the Bachull of Bachull. The custodian of the
crozier is called Baran a' Bhachuill, the Baron of the Bachull; Baran
na Bachuill, the Baron of Bachull.

The Livingstones of Lismore wore unfortunate in their neighbour, Campbell
of Airds. Sir Donald Campbell of Airds was a natural son of Campbell
of Calder, now Cawdor. He is known in tradition as 'Domhnull Dubh nan
Ard', Black Donald of Airds.

Sir Donald was an ecclesiastic at a time when many ecclesiastics were
sorely perplexed which end of the see-saw to follow. While Rome was paramount
Sir Donald was a Roman of the Romans; when Episcopacy was in the ascend-
ant he swore by the Thirty-Nine Articles; and when Presbyterianism was
triumphant Sir Donald Campbell became reconciled to Presbytery.

The man, was greedy of power and pelf, gaining ends regardless of means,
a robber, steeped to the neck in fraud and guile, and pursued his evil
courses with an address and adroitness that Jacob might have envied.
, He was bishop-elect of Lismore, but had not been appointed, the Pope
probably being uncertain of him.

'Is math an la an ni am madadh-ruadh searman,' A good day it is when
the fox preaches a sermon. Sir Donald Campbell announced that he was
to preach in Lismore and that he expected the people to attend. He preached
accordingly. On the following day it was reported that the black sheep
of Alasrath belonging to Sir Donald was stolen. The people were alarmed,
sheep-stealing being a capital crime and Sir Donald implacable. The houses
were searched, and that there might be 'no remissness of duty Campbell
himself accompanied the search party. The house of the Baron was searched
like the rest, and there on the rafters was found the skin-lug-marks
and all-of the black sheep of Alasrath. The people were astonished, and,
apparently, none more than Sir Donald Campbell. Sir Donald gave the Baron
the alternative of losing his head or losing his lands.

'Well,' said the honest Baron, 'I am not a thief; there .has never been
a thief of my family as far back as I can trace. But some evil-minded
man has dole this evil thing to me to bring myself to disgrace and my
children to ruin. I am not afraid to die-the guiltless die but once,
the guilty many times; but rather than that posterity should cast up
to my children that their father was hanged for stealing a sheep, I leave
my land with you, Sir Donald, and my integrity with my children as their
only legacy.'

Campbell thereupon took possession of all the lands of Livingstone south
of Fuaran Frangaig, including Bailegarbh, Cnoc na Croiche to the Lake
of Cileandrais, Garadh nan Cleireach, Peighinn Chailean, and on to Crois
Dughaill. Bachuill he left with the Baron.

When Sir Donald lay dying - and his death was terrible - he sent a fleet-footed
messenger to bring the Baron to him. But his wife sent a swifter messenger
to bring, back the other. And all night long Sir Donald kept calling
out, 'The Baron!' 'The Baron!' 'O the Baron!' 'What is keeping the Baron!'
'Why is not the Baron coming?' And his wife kept saying, 'Yes, love,
yes. Thou didst ever love the Baron! thou didst great favours for him;
the grateful Baron will soon be here.' And all night long the black raven
kept croaking in the elm tree above Black Sir Donald, as did the raven
in the tree above the bed of Duncan. Before morning dawned, on a night
of terrific wind and thunder and lightning, Black Sir Donald Campbell
of Airds was dead.

When the man bribed to do Sir Donald's work at Alasrath heard that his
master was dead he was sore dismayed and like a man bereft, running to
and fro, rolling his tongue like a bear, and bleating like a sheep. Ultimately
the unhappy man rushed up the lofty Clach-tholl, from the precipitous
head of which he had the grace Judas-like to cast himself, and was dashed
to pieces on the rocks below.

Baron Carmichael of Sgurain[1], and others whom this man of fraud and
guile had robbed of their lands, resented the robberies and chafed under
their wrongs, but Baron Livingstone behaved with such Christian meekness
and resignation under his grievous wrong that seemingly even, the hard
heart of his wily injurer was touched.

This was not the only occasion on which the Livingstones of Bachuill
suffered at the hands of the Campbells of Airds. Towards the close of
the 18th century a road was formed along the length of Lismore. This
road cut a piece off the little estate of Bachuill. Sir John Campbell
of Airds proposed to Baron John Livingstone of Bachuill to exchange this
piece of land for a piece that lay between Bachuill and the glebe. To
this the Baron consented, and the exchange was made. 'But,' said Sir
John Campbell, 'as the land that I am giving is of more value to you
than the land that you are giving me, you must pay me a small sum in
addition.' 'Whatever you say is right is right, Sir John,' said the Baron.
'Well, we will call it the small sum of fifty shillings, then,' said
the wily Sir John. 'Whatever you say is right is right, Sir John,' said
the Baron unsuspectingly. The thin end of the wedge being thus got in,
in the following year an additional sum of fifty shillings was exacted
and paid, and so on from year to year, till the sum amounted to £17,
10s. a year!

While discussing these proceedings a few years ago with .the late Baron
of Bachuill, the writer remarked that the honesty of the Livingstones
had 'been no protection against the guile of the Campbells of Airds.
'No,' said the good, kindly Baron, with a twinkle in his eye and a smile
on his lips, quoting an old proverb, 'There is no watertightness in the
divots of the Campbells.' (Cha’n'eil dion ann an sgrath nan Caimbeulach.)
' What comes with the rain goes with the wind,' says the old proverb.
The Campbells of Airds lost their lands long ago, and their representatives
are scattered far and wide. Even their burying-place in the midst of
the lovely woods of Airds, and which they took great pains to enclose
and secure, is no longer left sacred to them, and strangers bury therein.
Sadly curtailed and small, Bachuill is still the property of the ancient
Livingstones, together with the love and esteem of all who know them.

It is not quite clear whether a fostership or a marriage connection
or both existed between the Stewarts of Appin and the Livingstones of
Lismore, but the friendship between them was strong and enduring. A Gaelic
proverb says: 'Cairdeas gu caogad co-altas gu ceud'-relationship to fifty,
fostership to a hundred. The following incident throws a lurid light
upon life in the Highlands - and indeed in the Lowlands also - in the
first decade of the sixteenth century. There had been wolfish feuds about
lands between the Stewarts of Appin and the Macleans of Duart.

The Earl of Argyll - whose daughter Elizabeth - the subject of Campbell's
poem of 'Glenara'-was married to Maclean-brought about a reconciliation,
and Stewart went to Duart to ratify the peace. There were games and feats
of strength and arms, in all of which Sollamh Mac Colla, Solomon Maccoll,
the gille cas fliuch of Stewart, was victorious. The Macleans were 'neither
to haud nor to bind,' and they fell upon the luckless gille cas fluich,
and beat him to death.

Then they jeered at the body, saying, 'nach ann ann a tha an smior chnamh
; nach ann ann a tha an ola dhonn! ' ' Is it not in him that the bone
marrow is? is it not in him that the neatsfoot oil is?' and other taunting
terms, as if they had a newly killed cow before them.

Stewart was grieved at the death of his trusted man, and riled at the
taunts of his slayers, and he replied with more warmth than wisdom, 'Cha
b'e brisgeanan ban an raoin agus faochagan dubh a chladaich idir teachd-an-tir
mo ghille-sa.' 'The pale silverweed of the field, and the black whelk
of the strand were not at all the sustenance of my man.' The insinuation
- perhaps all the more from the latent truth it contained - roused the
Macleans to red heat, and twenty Duart swords came down on the hapless
head of Appin.

Not content with slaying Stewart, the Macleans suspended his corpse
against the wall of their castle, and threatened death to any who would
dare to take it down.

The men of Appin fled for their lives, landing on the nearest point
of Lismore, nor did they rest till they placed that island and the sea
on either side of it between them- selves and Mull.

Livingstone of Bachuill was grieved when he beard of the death of his
good friend Stewart of Appin. He said nothing, however, but when night
came, he and 'his two red-haired daughters went away in their skiff,
nor were they long in reaching Duart. Livingstone and his daughters miraculously
managed to 'bring the body of the Lord of Appin to their skiff, and to
put to sea before they were discovered, but they had hardly left the
shore when the Macleans came rushing down with wild tumult and wilder
imprecations.

They immediately launched their 'boats and leapt into them, but as hurriedly
leapt out of them again, amidst yells of execration, for boat after boat
filled with water and sank beneath their feet. The wise Baron had been
before them and driven auger-holes through their boats. Ultimately they
managed with much difficulty to launch a sixteen-oared war galley less
damaged than the rest, that had brought home to Duart many a 'creach'
from distant island and near mainland.

After a terrible struggle, amidst the swirling currents of Boinne nam
Biodag,' the Macleans came up to the Livingstones in running through
the narrow shallow strait that separates the small islet of Musdal from
the main island of Lismore.

Just as a crowd of Macleans - a tithe of whom would have sent it to
the bottom - was about to jump down into the little skiff of the Livingstones,
a swift, swirling current threw the large galley on a sunken rock, on
which it was left hard and fast by the rapidly receding tide, while the
same rapid river-like current rushed the little skiff of the Livingstones
far beyond reach.

They rowed their hardest, and soon reached a creek, where they landed,
and hurriedly buried the body in the shingle of the beach. The people
of Lismore and Appin gathered, and carrying the body of Stewart to Clachan,
buried it in the cathedral church of Saint Moluag.

And there in the 'dim religious light' of the old fane the tombstone
of the Lord of Appin is still to be seen, and the story of the good Baron
of Bachuill and his two brave daughters is still told.

The creek where the Livingstones landed and buried the body is called
'Port Chailleach,' the port of the women.

Even yet the mention of the two red-haired daughters of the Baron of
Bachuill brings a flush to the face of a Maclean!

The burying-ground of Lismore is named after Saint Moluag. It is situated
on the summit of a prominent knoll. From this knoll there is a most extensive
and varied view, rarely equalled, nowhere excelled, of sea and lake,
of wood and glen and mountains. To the back are the mountains of Mull
and Morven, to the left the long vista of the Corran- the sea running
in among the mountains of Lochaber, in the midst of which stands Ban
Nevis towering above his neigh- bours. In front is Cruachan and the Linn,
and Land of Lorne, and to the right the Small Isles with the mountains
of Jura in the dim blue distance beyond.

Highlanders are taunted with clinging like limpets to their native rocks.
At all events Highlanders cling heart and soul to the memory of the woods
and lochs and glens and mountains among which they were reared, and which
they never forget wherever they go.

On the summit of the burying-ground is a cross called 'Crois Dubh -
the black cross,' and known on the mainland as the 'Black Cross of Lismore,'
- Crois Dubh Liosmoire. Till recently all public announcements were made
at this cross, and a proclamation was not considered valid unless made
here' The cross adjoins the site of the first Christian church in the
island, and probably like other crosses throughout the Highlands and
Islands was used as a preaching-station before there was a church. The
first church of Saint Moluag in Lismore is believed to have been constructed
of wattles, like most, if not all, of the Columban churches, and even
dwellings, of the time. It stood on the top of the burying-ground. The
cathedral church, now the parish church, is at the foot of the knoll.
It was completed in 1300, sixty-four years after the place was made into
a see. This church, like many others, was burnt by the Norsemen, who
massacred the people, for these Viking invaders revelled in blood and
fire. During last century, while a grave was being dug on the site of
this ancient church, a three-branched candlestick was found. The candle-
stick was gold, small and finely formed, though plain. Bits of burnt
wood, stone, and other debris of the early church came to light at the
same time. Possibly this interesting relic ot early Christian art formed
part of the altar furnishing of the simple wattle church of Saint Moluag[2].'
This candlestick was secured by General Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochnell,
but what became of it on the dispersion of his fine collection is not
known. The writer made minute personal inquiries for it at the British
Museum and elsewhere, but unsuccessfully. In the centre of the burying-ground,
and adjoining the foundation of this early church, is the lair of the
Barons of Bachuill. This would indicate the connection of the family
with the situation of the lair and church, and was very early, probably
preceding by many centuries their appointment to the custody of the pastoral
staff of the bishop in the thirteenth century. Probably the Livingstones
were the keepers of the actual staff of Saint Moluag, and were simply
confirmed in the office when the see of Argyll and the Isles was created.
If this be so, the crozier of Saint Moluag is one of the very oldest
relies of Christian art in Scotland, and second to none in interest.
The crozier is 2 feet 10 inches long. It is of wood, and was sheathed
with metal, probably gold, and is dotted all over with the marks of the
pins fastening the metal to the wood.

The earliest charter now extant of the Barons of Bachuill is dated l544.
This, however, is only a renewal, and refers to a previous charter. In
it the Baron of the time is spoken of patronymically as John, the son
of Molmoire, the son of Iver. Molmoire is Maol-Moire, -'the tonsured
of Mary.'

The Barons of Bachuill are of interest to all who are interested-and
who is not ?-in Dr. David Livingstone. The great missionary explorer
was descended from these Livingstone Barons of Bachuill in Lismore. Neil
Livingstone, the young son of the old Baron, joined the army of Prince
Charlie, and was in the rising of l745. He escaped, but not scathe less,
the disasters of Culloden and made his way home to Bachuill. But Lismore
was not a safe asylum, being the country of the Campbells, and the parish
of the Rev. John MacAulay. This John MacAulay, who had been minister
of South Uist, was the grandfather of Lord Macaulay, and like his father
in Harris, the Rev. Aulay MacAulay, he made himself obnoxious by trying
to secure the Prince.

Neil Livingstone crossed from Lismore to Morven, and after a time from
Morven to Mull, and finally from Mull to Ulva, adjoining.

Donald Livingstone, the son of Neil Livingstone, was in the local Fencibles
of his day. During the annual drills at Oban and Stirling he made the
acquaintance of his namesake and distant kinswoman, Catherine Livingstone,
whose father was a farmer at Bailemore in Kerrara, opposite Oban. When
his regiment was finally disbanded Donald Livingstone married Catherine
Livingstone and brought her home with him to Ulva. Things, however, did
not prosper in Ulva with the young people, and after a time they removed
to Blantyre on the Clyde. Donald Livingstone had a son, Neil, the father
of David Livingstone, whose name will live while courage, honesty, and
humanity are admired among men.

The tomb of the Livingstones of Lismore adjoins the site of the original
church of Saint Moluag. The place is called Plod nam Baran, Plod na Bachuill,
Plod Chlann-an- leigh, the lair of the Barons, the lair of Bachuill,
the lair of the Livingstones.

The Barons are buried by themselves, no member of their family being
buried with them. There is only one known instance of a member of his
family being buried with a Baron-a wife who, when dying, appealed to
be buried in death beside him whom she loved in life. The husband and
wife were so devotedly attached to one another throughout their long
married life that the touching appeal was acceded to, and she was accordingly
buried in the same grave with the Baron.

The grave of the Barons is situated by itself, and is known as An Uaigh
Mhor-the great grave, Uaigh nam Baran - the grave of the Barons, and
Uaigh na Bachuill - the grave of Bachuill, and other names.

One of the Barons was a man of immense strength and stature, and was
called An Gorm Mor, the big blue.

The gravestone of this Baron, Leac a'Ghuirm Mhoir, is of great interest.
The carving on it is that of the Middle Ages, and in high relief but
greatly weathered and defaced, and in some places worn out. On the upper
half of the stone is the :figure of a man in the kilt-much as the dress
is worn now-and holding a long staff in his right hand, probably the
staff of Saint Moluag. Along the sides of the stone trellised foliage
ascends intertwining at the, top and then bursting into blossoms and
drooping gracefully over the head of the man. The carving on the lower
half of the stone is even more obliterated, though still exhibiting traces
of deer and dogs, of hunters and hunting scenes.

The following is a copy of the 1544 charter of the Livingstones of Bachuill:-

Taken by Gregor McGregor, minister of Lismore, from a copy transcribed
from the original charter, on the 18th June 1810, in presence of Mr.
John Stewart, minister of Lismore, and Mr. George Campbell, minister
of Ardchatten, by Mr. Hugh Fraser, minister.

Lismore Manse,

16th January 1845.

To All anti Singular let it be known by those presents that we, Archibald
Campbell, Lord Fiar [feudatory] of the lands of Argyll, Campbell, and
Lorne, with the consent of our dearest father Archibald, Earl of Argyll,
Lord Campbell and Lorne, and Lord of the same lands, have granted, and
in the honour of God Omnipotent, the Blessed Virgin, and Saint Moloc
our Patron, have mortified and by our present writing have confirmed
to our Beloved Standard-Bearer [signiferl, John McMilmore-vic-Kiver and
the heirs-male of his body lawfully procreated or to be procreated, whom
failing, to return to his own gift all and singular our Lands, being
half of the lands of Poynbachilla and Paynaballan, extending to half
of a merk or mark land lying in the Island of Lismore, within our Lordship
of Lorne and Sheriffdom of Argyll, with the custody of the Great Staff
of Saint Moloc as freely as the other predecessors of the said John have
held from our predecessors Lords of Lorne, with the custody of the said
Staff in pure and free Alms as freely, quietly, honorably, completely,
well and peaceably as any lands within the kingdom are given or granted,
and this for the safety of the souls of us our predecessors or successors.
In testimony whereof we have ordered our seal along with the seal of
our dearest father and tutor, and our manual subscriptions to be appended
to this our Writ. Given at Castle Lachlan on the 9th of April 1544 in
the presence of John McCaul of Dunolly, John McCaul of Baray, Colin Campbell,
Ardkinlas, and Lachlan McLachlan of that Ilk, with various others.

(Signed) ARGYLL.

By the mandate of Archibald, Earl of Argyll.

The names of the lands are not spelt quite the same as in the abstract
of the Charter in the Origines Parochiales, vol. ii. part i. P163 where
a figure of the Bachuill of Saint Moloc will be found. The original is
there said to be in the possession of the Livingstones of Bachuill, whose
representatives still have the charter, but the staff has been acquired
by the Duke of Argyll.

[1] Baron Carmichael, Lismore, was a man of some standing in his day.
He was usually called ‘Am Baran Ban'-the Fair Baron; and 'Baran
Tigh Sgurain'-the Baron of Sgurain House-from the precipitous projection
on which the house stood. One of the family was Bishop of Lismore, and
was usually called An t-Fispuig Ban. He was one of the bishops during
whose episcopacy the Cathedral of Lismore was built. Some three centuries
subsequently descendants of the Fair Baron were still fair - Dr. Dugald
Carmichael was called 'Dughall Ban'-Fair Dugald; and 'An Dotar Ban'-the
Fair Doctor. He is known to science as the ‘Father of Marine Botany,'
and was the intimate friend and correspondent of Sir William Hooker,
who called many marine plants after him. His nephew, the accomplished
Celtic scholar, the late Rev. Dr. Clark, Killmallie, went under the name
of 'Gilleaspa Ban-Archibald the Fair.

[2] Saint Moluag is said to have died at Ardelach, while on one of his
many missionary journeys. When the people of Lismore heard of his death
twenty-four of the strongest men in the island travelled to Ardebch and
brought his body home on their shoulders and buried him within his own
rustic little church amidst the moaning of men and the wailing of women,
for Moluag was much beloved. This is the tradition, still current in
Lismore. Other accounts state that he died at Rosmarkie, and that he
is buried there.